Discover Grace Blog

Should We Really Listen to the Unchurched?

Everybody listens to someone. As parents, we teach our children to listen and comply with what we tell them. As employees, we follow the guidance of those in authority over us.

However, as ministry leaders, we may wonder from whom we should take our instruction. Our theology tells us to look to God, but can we also find any insight listening to people outside the Church?

In our latest LifeWay Research book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches That Reach Them (B&H), we studied young adults' views of religion, spirituality and the Church. We used those findings to provide instruction and examples of how best to connect this generation to God and church.

As good as research can be, some question the idea of doing this type of analysis, saying we're surveying the wrong crowd. Let's agree on this: God, through His Word and the work of the Holy Spirit, is the unequivocal authority on ministry and church. But the next questions are: "Do the beliefs of the unchurched really have value? Should their ideas and perspectives inform our evangelistic strategy?" Here is my answer to both: YES.

A Hopeful Response

I believe that God is honored when we listen to the longings of the unchurched because it is mercy and mission that compel us to listen. We pay attention to the longings of the lost because we care for them (mercy) and desire to make the Gospel known to them as clearly as possible (mission). Knowing the people we hope to reach allows us to better address their concerns, articulate the truth and apply the Gospel.

Some believe this generation is disinterested in the things of God and thus, demand the Church alter its beliefs and mission. Our research indicates quite the opposite.

A Spiritual Generation

Spiritual interest is high among the younger generation. Although being spiritual does not always equate with being religious, only 18 percent said they were neither spiritual nor religious.

A majority (81 percent) of younger unchurched adults in America believe that God or a higher supreme being exists. Research also shows, that the theological beliefs of unchurched people in their 20s are closer to historic Christianity than the beliefs of older unchurched generations.

Young adults certainly are more interested in Christianity than many think. Almost 90 per- cent of the unchurched in their 20s would be willing to listen
if someone wanted to tell them about Christianity. Three out of 5 would be willing to study the Bible if a friend asked them.

Asking the Church to Be the Church

Our data showed that the younger unchurched see Christianity as relevant and viable, but more about organized religion than loving God and people. They believe the Church is full of hypocrites and is unnecessary for spiritual development.

However, much of what they are looking for can be found in God and His Church. Our churches should be embodying authentic community, a life of depth, a responsibility to serve others and the desire to connect with other generations. Our research revealed these are the very things that the younger unchurched deemed important.

The younger unchurched don't need us to re-create our message to accommodate their needs. Rather, what they are often seeking is what we need to be doing for the Church to actually be the Church.

Ed Stetzer is president of LifeWay Research (LifeWayResearch.com) and co-author (with Richie Stanley and Jason Hayes) of Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches That Reach Them (B&H). You'll find Ed's research blog at OutreachMagazine.com.

Proper Reformed Theology

In his blog, Dr. Ray Ortlund writes:  I like Reformed theology. I believe it’s what the Bible teaches. But I don’t like Reformed culture. I don’t believe it’s what the Bible teaches.

Reformed theology is all about grace deciding to treat people better than they deserve, for the             sheer glory of it all. Sometimes Reformed culture doesn’t look like that, feel like that, taste like             that. It gives people exactly what they deserve, as judged by the Reformed person. But who exalted him as judge in the first place? Our true Judge stepped down to become our Friend. That theology of grace must translate into the sociology of grace as we treat one another better than anyone deserves, for the sheer glory of it all.

        “If our theology does not quicken the conscience and soften the heart, it actually hardens both; if         it does not encourage the commitment of faith, it reinforces the detachment of unbelief; if it fails         to promote humility, it  inevitably feeds pride.”
                                                                                J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness, page 15.

Our theology & doctrine is vitally important.  With passion, we are called to love the Lord with our "heart, mind, soul, and strength."  As Reformed Christians we wholeheartedly embrace loving Christ with our "minds."  This is important and not to be diminished.  However, far too often in Reformed circles, our theology does not transform us – we leave any application to our life out.


The Gospel of Christ is all about His Grace to us. How Jesus came to rescue us: a lost, depraved, hopeless, and helpless bunch of disgusting sinners. In His providence, He has called us out of our death and made us alive in Christ! What joy is this!? Christian, when you consider this truth for even a moment, does not your heart overflow with thanksgiving & wondrous delight? To know that you are a Child of the most high God! This truth should so capture us that we can hardly contain our excitement & passion for Christ. It should TRANSFORM our lives – now the mundane is precious. The church service is a family reunion lifting up Christ with our hearts! Our lives our now lived for Christ as our spiritual act of worship.

This Easter, let us remember that we are not our own! We have been bought with a price! The price was Jesus Christ's sacrifice for us at Golgotha. Most of all, remember this: His cross was YOURS!

Total Depravity List

Here is a great list of verses that I came across a hugely important doctrine of the faith: total depravity.  I strongly feel that the Church's (in America) abandonment / silence on this truth is one of the primary problems in the Church today.

Total Depravity Verse List

From: http://www.traviscarden.com/articles/total-depravity-verse-list

The doctrine of total depravity (or total inability) says that all men, as a consequence of the Fall, are born morally corrupt, enslaved to sin, at enmity with God, and unable to please Him or even of themselves to turn to Christ for salvation. (Thus the necessity of a gracious, unconditional election.) Here is a sweeping survey of the biblical support for the doctrine.

Is man basically good or basically evil?

• Ecclesiastes 7:29 - "See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes."
• Romans 5:7-8 - For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
• Romans 5:12,19 - sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned... by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners

c.f. Job 15:14-16, 25:4-6; Ecclesiastes 9:3

All men? Are there any exceptions?

• Psalm 143:2 - Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
• Romans 11:32 - For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. (c.f. Galatians 3:22)
• Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
• 2 Chronicles 6:36 - "there is no one who does not sin"
• Isaiah 53:6 - All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way
  
• Micah 7:2-4 - The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
• Romans 3:9-12 - What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (c.f. Psalm 14:1-3, 53:1-3)
• 1 John 1:8,10 - If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and his word is not in us.
• Mark 10:18/Luke 18:19 - And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone."

c.f. 1 Kings 8:46; 116:11, 130:3, 143:2; Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Jeremiah 2:29; Micah 7:2-4, Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19; Romans 5:12-14; 1 Corinthians 5:9-10; James 3:2; etc., etc.

Are people good deep down?

• Mark 7:21-23 - "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." (c.f. Matthew 15:19)
• Psalm 5:9 - For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.

Are men totally depraved? Is every faculty of the person corrupted?

Heart/Mind (Deceitful)

• Jeremiah 17:9 - "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"
• Titus 1:15-16 - to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
• Ecclesiastes 9:3 - Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
• Romans 1:28-31 - And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were... foolish
• Ephesians 4:17-18 - you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
• Jeremiah 10:7-8,14 - among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you. They are both stupid and foolish... Every man is stupid and without knowledge
• Matthew 15:19 - "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander." (c.f. Mark 7:21-23)
• Genesis 6:5 & 8:21 - The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually... from his youth.
• Proverbs 10:20 - the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
• Proverbs 28:26 - Whoever trusts in his own [heart] is a fool

c.f. Deuteronomy 29:2-4; Psalm 10:4, 36:1-2, 58:4-5, 94:11; Proverbs 10:20; Ecclesiastes 8:11; Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26; Matthew 13:14; Mark 7:21-23; Romans 8:7; Ephesians 4:17-18, 23

Will/Choosing (Enslaved)

• John 8:34 - Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin."
• 2 Peter 2:19 - They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.
• Titus 3:3 - For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
• Galatians 4:8-9 - Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
• Romans 6:6,16,17,19,20 - We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey...? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed... For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
• Romans 7:14 - For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
• 2 Timothy 2:25-26 - God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

c.f. Isaiah 42:6-7; Psalm 51:12; John 8:31-32,36; 2 Corinthians 3:17

Affections/Desires (Perverted)

• Romans 1:24-27 - Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
• Ephesians 2:3 - we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
  
• Proverbs 21:10 - The soul of the wicked desires evil
• John 3:19 - And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
• John 8:44 - "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires."

c.f. Genesis 3:16; Psalm 4:2, 52:3-4 140:8; Proverbs 10:23; 2 Timothy 3:2-4; 2 Peter 2:13

et al (Utter Ruin)

• Titus 1:15-16 - to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
• Romans 7:18 - For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.
• Isaiah 1:5-6 - The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil.

Can men change themselves or still do good when they want to?

• Jeremiah 13:23 - Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.
• 1 Samuel 24:13 - "As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes wickedness.'"
• Matthew 7:18 - "A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit." (c.f. Luke 6:43)
• Matthew 12:34-35 - "How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil."
• Romans 8:7 - For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
• Genesis 6:5 & 8:21 - The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually... from youth.
• Titus 1:15-16 - to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

c.f. Job 14:4; Matthew 12:34; John 15:5; Romans 14:23; Philippians 1:11; 1 John 5:18-19

Are men at least born pure? What about the "tabula rasa"?

• Psalm 51:5 - Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
• Genesis 8:21 - the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth."
• Psalm 58:3 - The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
  
• John 3:6 - "That which is born of the flesh is flesh"

c.f. Proverbs 22:15

What is the natural disposition of man toward God?

• John 3:20 - "For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed."
• Romans 8:7-8 - For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God
• Colossians 1:21 - And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds

c.f. Romans 1:28-30; James 4:4

What is man's relationship to God?

• Psalm 58:3 - The wicked are estranged from the womb;
• Ephesians 2:12-13 - remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
• Ephesians 2:3 - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

c.f. Isaiah 59:2

Can man then do anything to please God?

• Proverbs 15:9 - The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord
• Proverbs 15:8 - The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord (c.f. Proverbs 21:27)
• Proverbs 28:9 - If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
• Isaiah 64:6 - We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
• Hebrews 11:6 - And without faith it is impossible to please [God]
• Romans 8:7-8 - Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

c.f. Psalm 50:16; Proverbs 21:4; Isaiah 1:10-15; Amos 5:21-24

Are men at least seeking God?

• Psalm 10:4 - In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
• John 3:20 - "For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed."
• Isaiah 65:1 - "I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
• Isaiah 64:7 - There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.
• Romans 3:10-12 - "no one seeks for God."

c.f. Romans 10:20

Can the natural man comprehend the gospel or come to saving knowledge of God on his own?

• 1 Corinthians 2:14 - The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
• 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 - our gospel is veiled... to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
• 1 Corinthians 1:18,21-24 - For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles
• Deuteronomy 29:2-4 - And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: "You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear."
• Matthew 11:27 - "no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

c.f. Psalm 119:18; Proverbs 4:19; Isaiah 42:6-7; Hosea 14:9; Matthew 16:17; John 8:43; Acts 22:14, 26:18; Ephesians 4:17-19; 2 Corinthians 2:15-16; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4; 1 John 5:20

Can men of themselves accept God's gift of salvation? Do men choose God or come to Him on their own?

• John 3:27 - John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven."
• John 14:16-17 - "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him."
• John 1:12-13 - But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
• John 6:44,65 - "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
• Romans 9:16 - So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
• Romans 11:35-36 - "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things.
• 1 Corinthians 1:30 - And because of him you are in Christ Jesus
• Philippians 2:13 - for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

c.f. Jonah 2:9; Zephaniah 3:9; John 15:16; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Philippians 1:6; James 1:18

Who supplies faith/belief/repentance?

• Acts 16:14 - One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.
• 1 Corinthians 3:6 - I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
• Acts 5:31 - "God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins."
• Acts 11:18 - When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, "Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life."
• Philippians 1:29 - For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should... believe in him
• Acts 18:27 - When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed
• Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
• 2 Timothy 2:24-25 - And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, [etc.]... God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth
• 1 Corinthians 12:3 - no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit.
• 2 Peter 1:3 - His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence
• Romans 11:36 - For from him and through him and to him are all things.
• 1 Corinthians 4:7 - For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
• John 3:6, 6:63 - "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all."

c.f. 1 Chronicles 29:14; John 5:44; Acts 3:16; Romans 12:3; Ephesians 6:23; 2 Thessalonians 3:2

Can men do anything to help themselves?

• Colossians 2:13 - And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses
• Ephesians 2:1-2, 4-5 - And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked... But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved

c.f. Psalm 49:7-9; Jeremiah 2:22; Ezekiel 16:6, 37:1-3; Romans 5:6

Who then can be saved?!

• Matthew 19:26 - But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

c.f. Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27

Recommended Reading

• Pink, A.W. Our Accountability to God (formerly Gleanings From the Scriptures: Man's Total Depravity). Online: The Total Depravity of Man and The Doctrine of Man's Impotence.
• Boettner, Lorraine. Total Inability. In The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination.
• Boston, Thomas. The State of Nature. In Human Nature in its Fourfold State.
• Calvin, John. Book 2, Chapters 1-5. In Institutes of the Christian Religion.
• Luther, Martin. The Bondage of the Will.
• Edwards, Jonathan. Freedom of the Will (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 1).

Matt Chandler - Don't Waste Your Tumor

I posted a great video a few days ago from Matt Chandler.  He posted this video to his church prior to going in for brain surgery.  It is worth your time:

The Village Church

John Piper on Porn

John Piper bravely addresses a subject that plagues the church and is usually nearly silent on:

Jars of Clay - Worlds Apart

Perhaps one of my all-time most favorite songs.  In many ways I think of this song as my life's prayer.  There is the ongoing tension of my own growing awareness of sin & my growing understanding of my Lord's holiness.  My own sin: blatant disregard for God's ways and following my own (it is so hard to "rid myself of all but love").  Truly, my sin is, "another nail to pierce the skin of one who loves."  His love, in contrast of my own lack of love for God, is what actually draws me into closer walk with Him.

The song ends with the prayer to offer up everything that I have - to give even my entire world.  Yielding my world to be so bold as to ask that the Lord "take my world apart" and rebuild it with His purposes.

I could keep writing, but I want the Lord to speak to you through this.  By the way, Jars of Clay's newest album drops today 4/21, "The Long Fall Back to Earth."

LYRICS-

I am the only one to blame for this
Somehow it all ends up the same
Soaring on the wings of selfish pride
I flew too high and like Icarus I collide
With a world I try so hard to leave behind
To rid myself of all but love
to give and die

To turn away and not become
Another nail to pierce the skin of one who loves
more deeply than the oceans,
more abundant than the tears
Of a world embracing every heartache

Can I be the one to sacrifice
Or grip the spear and watch the blood and water flow

To love you - take my world apart
To need you - I am on my knees
To love you - take my world apart
To need you - broken on my knees

All said and done I stand alone
Amongst remains of a life I should not own
It takes all I am to believe
In the mercy that covers me

Did you really have to die for me?
All I am for all you are
Because what I need and what I believe are worlds apart

[Additional lyrics:]

I look beyond the empty cross
forgetting what my life has cost
and wipe away the crimson stains
and dull the nails that still remain
More and more I need you now,
I owe you more each passing hour
the battle between grace and pride
I gave up not so long ago
So steal my heart and take the pain
and wash the feet and cleanse my pride
take the selfish, take the weak,
and all the things I cannot hide
take the beauty, take my tears
the sin-soaked heart and make it yours
take my world all apart
take it now, take it now
and serve the ones that I despise
speak the words I can't deny
watch the world I used to love
fall to dust and thrown away
I look beyond the empty cross
forgetting what my life has cost
so wipe away the crimson stains
and dull the nails that still remain
so steal my heart and take the pain
take the selfish, take the weak
and all the things I cannot hide
take the beauty, take my tears
take my world apart, take my world apart
I pray, I pray, I pray
take my world apart

Calvinism's Rise

Time Magazine recently featured a top 10 list of ideas that are changing the world right now.  #3 is "Calvinism."  To me this is so encouraging as I see this apparent movement (within the Church) as a return to our roots.  Perhaps even the Gospel's roots. 

Many people freak out when they here the name, but the reality most people don't even know what it means.  Calvin would have never named a system of thought after himself, because he knew that the only reason he any understanding was that God called John to himself. 

Check out this article...interesting to think that a movement in the Church is affecting America & the world.

Time Magazine's Article

Cross Versus Self Salvation

This passage from Matthew 3:7-12 speaks about John the Baptist:

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." ESV

Here is a picture of the Gospel. Jesus Christ was sent from the Father to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. This is very strong language that stands in stark contrast to the many modern images of an emasculated Jesus that resembles the Breck girl more than the intense person we see in the Bible. Make no mistake, Jesus came to deal with souls (and sin) – with great might and authority. He is a God of love, but He is also – as can be clearly seen here – a God of vengeance against the sin of all those that are not in Him.  Too many people play games. Too many that warm the pews on Sunday simply don’t know him. Either you are follower of Christ bearing fruit, or you are a fool who thinks that your religion will save you (just like the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to John the Baptist) – and you will be burnt like the chaff. This passage is a call to fall on the cornerstone of Christ. Either you fall on Him or you trip on Him:

1 Peter 2:7-8 - "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," and "A stone of
stumbling, and a rock of offense."

Here is your question and the question for all men:
Are you on the Rock of Christ or do you look within for salvation?

The same Jesus, who many think of as simply a spineless purveyor of empty love, will one day be the vanquishing judge of all those that were not founded on Him. That will not be a pretty day for most people. BUT...for all those in Christ, there is no greater love than any man could know!
The interesting thing about this passage, in opposition to what most purvey today, is that we will bear fruit of repentance. The reality is that fruit is seen. What is seen in you? Do you bear fruit? Are you a “repenter” (as many committed Christians have been called in Church history)? Do you hate your sin? Do you love Christ?

My prayer is that this will strike fear into the hearts of all that read this that have not placed their faith in Christ Jesus – and that you would fall onto the Cornerstone – who grants salvation, forgiveness, and peace with God. My prayer is that everyone who is in Christ would be moved by this reminder of the Gospel and the comparison of who they would be without Christ –and fall on their face before Him (with an ongoing spirit of repentance). The Lord has been calling me to personal repentance -- and as your shepherd I call you to the same. My prayer is that everyone in our church would be founded on the Cornerstone – Jesus Christ.

Do You Remember?

In the days immediately following 911, I talked with numerous people that expressed a deep desire to  live differently.  To be different.  To be a changed person .  To love God.  To be a "good Christian."  Do you remember how full the churches were?  It was not long until the crowds were gone.

My question 7 years later is the same 7 weeks after 911: "Do you remember?!"  Do you remember the promises that you made to me?  To your pastor?  To your spouse and children?  More importantly, do you remember the promises that you made to God?

Unfortunately, the resounding answer is that most do not.  It reminds me of Isaac and Ishmael.  Ishmael a child born by the schemes of man.  Isaac a man born of God.  Only God calls people to himself.  Only God can change the heart of man.  He is the only one that makes Isaacs--true sons!

Exodus 33:19 - And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

My prayer is that God would use Katrina, Gustav, Ike, the memory of 911, and every calamity (both big ones and personal ones) to call people to Himself.  This is my prayer for those in my church, family members, friends, and neighbors that do not truly know Jesus Christ. 

My advice to those who promise to seek after God?  Don't make promises.  Get on your face before God and beg for His mercy.  He is the only one who can save you by His rich mercy.

A God Not Served By Human Hands

Acts 17 - 24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

Too many Christians have a small view of God. Sit down for 5 minutes with a professing Christian and ask about their walk with Christ. You will quickly find how seriously they take their relationship with Him.

Usually the answers you receive are: “I really try to follow Him;” “I have been a Presbyterian for 30 years;” “I go to church every Sunday;” “I try to love God;” “I try to live a good life.” I could go on all day…but what is the common theme? It is all “I” based and focused on self.

In stark contrast, if you ever talk to a follower of Christ (note: instead of being just a “Christian”) for many years you hear a different theme: only Jesus Christ and Him crucified. To hear them talk about their Lord in intimate terms. To be brought to tears at the mere mention of His name. Excited to share of His glory. Completely impassioned and focused on Him. Boasting only in Christ and nothing else. Very little mention of anything about self. Fully focused on their Savior…because He is their treasure!

A faith that is based on anything other than Christ is wimpy and pointless at best. 

Many Christians think of God in terms of His need for them…or their services to Him. We ought to cringe anytime anyone says: “God needs us to share;” “God needs us to pray;” God needs us to follow Him better.” God does not need us for anything. He was fully complete before us…and will always be complete in spite of us. We do not add anything to His glory…we also cannot take anything away. He does not need us, yet He invites us to know Him through prayer and His Word, to share about Him, and to follow Him: the God of the Universe. This is the heart of the Gospel.

I desire for my faith to be much more focused on knowing Christ and the power of His Cross in my (COMPLETELY UNDESERVING) life. When all is said and done, I want it to be said of me; “He was a sinner but knew a great Savior.” Should not that be the prayer for us all?